“Run that by me again.” Cassandra stated flatly. She could feel her face losing expression as she shifted to rest her legs over the arm of her- rather comfortable- chair.
“We want you to take this one,” with a halfhearted gesture at stiff Police officer sitting to the bureaucrat’s right and behind the desk, “with you when you’re inspecting the Wall.” That’s what she thought he said. Bastard.
This chair was really comfortable. Just the right level of sink to really relax, but enough firm that she couldn’t sink so low as to make it hard for her to escape with her admittedly short legs.
Oh right, idiots telling her to do idiotic things.
“You want me. To inspect the Wall.” Her tone- and, she was sure- expression expressing the sheer befuddlement she felt over such a gross misallocation of resources.
She wondered if they’d let her take the chair home…
“Yes.”
Yes? What was she supposed to say? Well, since you asked so nicely?
Cassandra reached her left hand up to play with her curls as she clenched and unclenched her right hand.
“I’m a network engineer.”
“Yes, you are. And we know you’ve been checking out books on other engineering disciplines from the library, including structural engineering.”
Ass clearly wasn’t paying attention, then. She’d almost applaud his patience if it wasn’t annoying.
“I’m not a structural engineer. I dabble in structural engineering, but I do not have years of formal training in the subject. I have a very specialized set of skills that makes me very valuable to a subset of our population. That subset is not idiots who need to know where to swing a hammer.”
The cop had a faint grin on his face, clearly enjoying the show. If she were an onlooker she probably would, too, in all honesty. The bureaucrat shifted nervously, sweat trickling down his brow as he adjusted his collar.
“Yes, well, aren’t all Engineers the same, anyway?”
The look of sheer incredulity she sent him was mirrored by the cop, though his wasn’t being overwhelmed by the anger and aggravation she was feeling. Then again, he was some regular cop, and Cassandra Medrell was anything but a normal engineer.
“You are wrong in so many ways I can’t begin to approach how to eludicate the sheer depths of your folly in words you’d be capable of understanding.”
She stared at the bureaucrat. The bureaucrat stared back.
The bureaucrat sighed.
“You’ll be off for the rest of the week with full pay in absence of an emergency, and a chariot will be provided to escort you to the Wall. We only want you to do the southwestern subsection.”
“What’s he for, then?” Cassandra asked, jutting her chin at the poor soul they had probably chosen to supervise her. Probably lost at pulling straws or something, the designs on his gauntlets were far too fancy for him to be unable to just pull rank if he wanted.
“Legionnaire Dirkwood graciously volunteered to lend an air of legitimacy to your presence at the Wall.”
Cassandra hummed, making a show of deciding.
“I want this chair, too.”
It was a nice chair. Will’d love it as much as she did. Was a shame to waste in some bureaucrat’s office, greeting all guests. Serve a much better purpose in her living room.
The aggravation the bureaucrat infused into his sigh almost made the hassle worth it.
Sparing a glance out of the corner of her eye, Cassandra elected to inspect her unwilling- and unwanted- companion for this mess of a trip. She noticed that his Scrapshot- retrieved from the government storage lockers- had a trio of hearts, each surrounding a pair of letters, each sketched into the side. It was an unusual decoration for a man who clearly talked about as much as he showed.
There was a hell of a racket and she honestly wasn’t too big a fan of the mixed scents of iron and horse, but chariots were still the fastest way to get from point A to point B in Phanes. It didn’t really help her temper, however.
“So, pulling straws, boredom, or request from higher up?” She asked the cop casually. To his credit, he didn’t so much as bat an eye.
“Higher ups. I’ve been getting sent supervising the primary school’s field trips to the Wind Farm, and now any time somebody from the Wall is needed for something involving interacting with people outside the Wall they look to me first.”
Left unsaid was, ‘I’m also not going to complain about my bosses clearly grooming me for promotion to Command.’ Cassandra wouldn’t be surprised if the idiots she had to put up with became the idiots he had to put up with in the near future.
The Western Borough was overly tightly-packed. Their chariot could barely fit through the narrow roads. People had to squeeze into the nearly nonexistent gaps between short, stout buildings. The dirt and distant scent of oil penetrated into her nostrils. The smoke from nearby factories permeated into her mouth, reminding her of the time Will forgot about a steak on their stove.
The Wall was a testament of Human survival. An effort of her parents’ generation, it was the bastion defending the Humans of Phanes Bay from the hostile raiders waiting in the wings.
Recent rains made the scent of damp rock of wet grass permeate into Cassandra’s nostrils. The scent of something dead could faintly be discovered underneath the rain.
“A rabbit.” The cop sighed.
Cassandra bent down to poke the rabbit’s pelt, the part that was matted with water rather than blood.
“A dead rabbit.” She agreed.
“I’m not telling the church. I’m Barren.”
“I’m not telling the church, I don’t have enough kids.”
Silence. Neither broke eye contact- Cassandra wished she didn’t have to look up so high to meet his eyes. The cop’s face was unreadable. Cassandra reached up to play with her curls, slowly. The cop looked increasingly bored.
“Both?” Cassandra sighed.
“I’ll grab one of my subordinates, make him do it. I think we have a bit more wall to examine before you’ve earned your chair.”
“Fair enough.” Cassandra shrugged.
“We want you to take this one,” with a halfhearted gesture at stiff Police officer sitting to the bureaucrat’s right and behind the desk, “with you when you’re inspecting the Wall.” That’s what she thought he said. Bastard.
This chair was really comfortable. Just the right level of sink to really relax, but enough firm that she couldn’t sink so low as to make it hard for her to escape with her admittedly short legs.
Oh right, idiots telling her to do idiotic things.
“You want me. To inspect the Wall.” Her tone- and, she was sure- expression expressing the sheer befuddlement she felt over such a gross misallocation of resources.
She wondered if they’d let her take the chair home…
“Yes.”
Yes? What was she supposed to say? Well, since you asked so nicely?
Cassandra reached her left hand up to play with her curls as she clenched and unclenched her right hand.
“I’m a network engineer.”
“Yes, you are. And we know you’ve been checking out books on other engineering disciplines from the library, including structural engineering.”
Ass clearly wasn’t paying attention, then. She’d almost applaud his patience if it wasn’t annoying.
“I’m not a structural engineer. I dabble in structural engineering, but I do not have years of formal training in the subject. I have a very specialized set of skills that makes me very valuable to a subset of our population. That subset is not idiots who need to know where to swing a hammer.”
The cop had a faint grin on his face, clearly enjoying the show. If she were an onlooker she probably would, too, in all honesty. The bureaucrat shifted nervously, sweat trickling down his brow as he adjusted his collar.
“Yes, well, aren’t all Engineers the same, anyway?”
The look of sheer incredulity she sent him was mirrored by the cop, though his wasn’t being overwhelmed by the anger and aggravation she was feeling. Then again, he was some regular cop, and Cassandra Medrell was anything but a normal engineer.
“You are wrong in so many ways I can’t begin to approach how to eludicate the sheer depths of your folly in words you’d be capable of understanding.”
She stared at the bureaucrat. The bureaucrat stared back.
The bureaucrat sighed.
“You’ll be off for the rest of the week with full pay in absence of an emergency, and a chariot will be provided to escort you to the Wall. We only want you to do the southwestern subsection.”
“What’s he for, then?” Cassandra asked, jutting her chin at the poor soul they had probably chosen to supervise her. Probably lost at pulling straws or something, the designs on his gauntlets were far too fancy for him to be unable to just pull rank if he wanted.
“Legionnaire Dirkwood graciously volunteered to lend an air of legitimacy to your presence at the Wall.”
Cassandra hummed, making a show of deciding.
“I want this chair, too.”
It was a nice chair. Will’d love it as much as she did. Was a shame to waste in some bureaucrat’s office, greeting all guests. Serve a much better purpose in her living room.
The aggravation the bureaucrat infused into his sigh almost made the hassle worth it.
Sparing a glance out of the corner of her eye, Cassandra elected to inspect her unwilling- and unwanted- companion for this mess of a trip. She noticed that his Scrapshot- retrieved from the government storage lockers- had a trio of hearts, each surrounding a pair of letters, each sketched into the side. It was an unusual decoration for a man who clearly talked about as much as he showed.
There was a hell of a racket and she honestly wasn’t too big a fan of the mixed scents of iron and horse, but chariots were still the fastest way to get from point A to point B in Phanes. It didn’t really help her temper, however.
“So, pulling straws, boredom, or request from higher up?” She asked the cop casually. To his credit, he didn’t so much as bat an eye.
“Higher ups. I’ve been getting sent supervising the primary school’s field trips to the Wind Farm, and now any time somebody from the Wall is needed for something involving interacting with people outside the Wall they look to me first.”
Left unsaid was, ‘I’m also not going to complain about my bosses clearly grooming me for promotion to Command.’ Cassandra wouldn’t be surprised if the idiots she had to put up with became the idiots he had to put up with in the near future.
The Western Borough was overly tightly-packed. Their chariot could barely fit through the narrow roads. People had to squeeze into the nearly nonexistent gaps between short, stout buildings. The dirt and distant scent of oil penetrated into her nostrils. The smoke from nearby factories permeated into her mouth, reminding her of the time Will forgot about a steak on their stove.
The Wall was a testament of Human survival. An effort of her parents’ generation, it was the bastion defending the Humans of Phanes Bay from the hostile raiders waiting in the wings.
Recent rains made the scent of damp rock of wet grass permeate into Cassandra’s nostrils. The scent of something dead could faintly be discovered underneath the rain.
“A rabbit.” The cop sighed.
Cassandra bent down to poke the rabbit’s pelt, the part that was matted with water rather than blood.
“A dead rabbit.” She agreed.
“I’m not telling the church. I’m Barren.”
“I’m not telling the church, I don’t have enough kids.”
Silence. Neither broke eye contact- Cassandra wished she didn’t have to look up so high to meet his eyes. The cop’s face was unreadable. Cassandra reached up to play with her curls, slowly. The cop looked increasingly bored.
“Both?” Cassandra sighed.
“I’ll grab one of my subordinates, make him do it. I think we have a bit more wall to examine before you’ve earned your chair.”
“Fair enough.” Cassandra shrugged.